East Links: Hefner, Roberts, Yankees, Phillies

Mets right-hander Jeremy Hefner received awful news after experiencing discomfort in his third rehab outing last week. Via Adam Rubin of ESPN New York (Twitter link), Hefner has a fracture in his elbow and will have to undergo his second Tommy John operation of the past year. The 28-year-old has spent the past year recovering from TJ and will now likely miss most, if not all of the 2015 campaign as well. MLBTR wishes Hefner the best of luck and a full recovery in the next round of rehab.

Here are some more links from baseball’s Eastern divisions…

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles aren’t interested in bringing back longtime second baseman Brian Roberts, who was recently released by the Yankees (Twitter link).

Joel Sherman of the New York Post examines the Yankees’ midseason rentals — Stephen Drew, Chase Headley and Brandon McCarthy — and wonders if any of the three will be back with the team in 2015 (and beyond). As Sherman notes, the final months of the season will serve as an audition for each player, and each could have a logical spot on the roster. Drew could replace the retiring Derek Jeter, Headley could handle third base when Alex Rodriguez DHs, and McCarthy can serve as valuable rotation depth given the uncertainty surrounding New York’s internal options.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. tells Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com that he’s looking for rotation depth following the trade of Roberto Hernandez and the injury to Cliff Lee. That desire led to the claim of Jerome Williams, but it sounds as if the Phils could be on the lookout for other cheap additions that could help them beyond the 2014 season. Salisbury notes that 2014 first-round pick Aaron Nola is not under consideration for a jump to the Majors.

Within that same piece, Salisbury also speculates that the Tigers and Phillies could reboot their previous trade talks for Jonathan Papelbon due to Joe Nathan’s recent struggles and Joakim Soria’s injury (he is on the DL with an oblique strain). Amaro tells Salisbury that the two sides haven’t talked trade recently, but he does acknowledge that he spoke with the Tigers “particularly about the bullpen.” Antonio Bastardo was thought to be a Tigers target at one point, but as Salisbury notes, Bastardo was placed on waivers earlier this month. While no reports surfaced of him being claimed, it’s highly unlikely that he would clear, given that he had a mere $600K or so of his 2014 salary remaining at the time he was placed on waivers.

One more note from Salisbury, as he reports that Amaro said it’s “possible” that top prospect Maikel Franco will receive a September call-up. An earlier promotion is unlikely for Franco, per Amaro, but there’s little doubt that he’s impressed as of late. While Franco struggled with the jump to Triple-A to open the season, he’s mashed since July 1, hitting .338/.360/.564 in 139 plate appearances.

I would definitely welcome back McCarthy. For some reason I feel like this is Kuroda’s last year and McCarthy would slot in well. Headley has been hitting decently lately so perhaps he wants a 1 year deal to replenish his value plus he could be a possible bridge to Jagielo assuming his development goes well. If (and that’s a big IF) Drew starts hitting, I would welcome him back on a 1 year deal as well. However, seeing the offseason he had I’m sure he wants a multi-year deal and he hasn’t enough to done warrant that kind of confidence. Wouldn’t want to be saddled with a more expensive Brendan Ryan.

Biddle is recovering from a hailstone to the head. He’s down in A+ ball right now because they gave him nearly a month off because there was just something off about him (some went as far to say that he lacked the competitiveness off his old self after he got hit in the head).

Nola also pitched in college for 3 years and was regarded as the most MLB ready player in the draft – and went 7th overall. Biddle was a high school kid who went in the late first round (outside the top 10, chances for a “hit” decrease significantly).

Papelbon, Bastardo, and some cash (about $5 M – mostly to be paid next year) for Nathan and Devon Travis (my other choice is Buck Farmer – but just saw he’s getting the start for Detroit on Wednesday, so they probably wouldn’t trade him). If Bastardo doesn’t make it through waivers, ask for Domingo Leyba and someone outside the top 20 (don’t have a name yet).

Including cash? Maybe with a new GM… or ownership. If someone offered to take on all of Pap’s contract he’d include anyone they wanted prospect wise. Why even torment yourself with any thought that they’d include cash in a deal.

Maybe because they have openly said they’d be inclined to include cash if it would help them improve (specifically for Papelbon). I get that as a Phillies fan, you like to be down on the team. It’s the “natural way” for most. But I’m going off of past history (included money for Thome – the last really good player they traded away with more than an expiring contract) and what they have said in the last year. The organization seems to finally be changing (i.e. analytical hiring). The next step in the natural progression is to realize that if you have the money (which they do), the smart thing is to take on some to get back better returns.

I think the real reason ownership is willing to eat a little money now is the new TV deal that starts next year. With ~$100MM in the bank guaranteed, it suddenly doesn’t feel as dire to drop $5-10MM (total, not per player traded) for a few years in exchange for a better prospect.

I guess 9 years is a small sample size….especially when the average career lasts only 5.6 years. They traded more talent than they may have needed to when they were buyers just to have teams pick up some of the cash. The contracts they’ve given out don’t require ‘some’ of the cash to be picked up, they require good chunks. Howard has no value, even Vernon Wells could run around in the OF a little and still hit the ball better than Howard. He was even a popular wavier wire add in fantasy. Lee is shut down, Byrd has a vesting option, Utley has a convoluted contract. Pap’s too expensive for a closer. If they aren’t willing to give up cash, they can’t be all out sellers. They sold a couple guys for peanuts but that’s about it, give up some $ maybe they get a good prospect back, Joseph was rated high with SF, but they traded 4 players now in the majors to get him in the first place.

Your sample size is 9 years? So they were sellers when they won the World Series and when they won 102 games. LOL – got it.

They were sellers twice – last year and this year. Last year they weren’t committed to it because they were foolishly betting on their old injured guys returning to form. This year – don’t know, but by all accounts they were willing to eat money, almost 100% of Howard’s and most of Papelbon’s. So…you’re wrong.

You said small sample size between the time they traded Thome and Today… that’s 9 years if you take half of 2005 and half of 2014… they could have traded a number of players and attempted to include cash to facilitate the deal. You’re making the assumption they were going to eat this or that amount of money… in reality RAJ only knows how to overpay with prospects and he or Montgomery are not opening up the purse to pawn these guys off. There have been players they could have paid to go away and not clogged up the roster with since 2005. You don’t have to be in last place to trade a player away unlike your premise.

Like I said – Thome was the last very good player they traded with more than an expiring contract. It’s kinda hard to judge them on “what they are going to do” when they haven’t had the chances to do it.

Right they can only make moves unilaterally… You can’t dump one player while actively seeking to replace that player with a better asset. You must be a hedge fund manager when you’re not a pro on here.

How do you know the 2 players are throw away guys? You have a crystal ball (or an inside source that has identified those players). They made a semi-rushed trade with the Dodgers, for a player who was never going to net a ton (no matter what). They have to go through the Dodgers’ system and do some research on the guys they are getting back.